Google.... why did I start googling this?

We've all done it. When you don't know what something is... you google it. Sometimes its a relief what we find and sometimes not so much. 


When Kuper and I noticed Karsen wasn't using his left side, I started googling. The first few nights I wasn't finding anything. On the third night I plopped down at the computer and Kuper started googling on his Iphone. (my how technology has changed things) that night was when hemiplegic cerebral palsy first popped up. Kuper had found the same thing. Neither of us were saying a word to each other. Neither of us wanted to be the person to break that bad news and admit something was wrong with our baby. The next day, after we got the boys to bed, we started our nightly routine of googling. That night was the night that forever change our lives. After an hour or so, I sat down in Kuper's lap and told him "I think I know what's wrong with Karsen" and he just said "I know" so, we just cried and held each other. We shared what we had found, which ended up being the same. Everything fit. I just didn't want to believe it was true. 


The next morning, I called Karsen's doctor and asked to make an appointment. When I told them what was going on, they told me the doctor would address that at his check up appointment. His appointment was in 2 weeks. I wanted answers and I wanted them right then and there! For those of you that have been through the ugly process of doctors, referrals, and official diagnosis, it's never an immediate answer. So we waited.... Got in to his doctor who then referred us to a pediatric neurologist. The closest pediatric neurologist we got in with was a 3 hour drive. So, we got a phone call and were able to get in with an amazing pediatric neurologist with in a week. Finally we were going to get some answers.

Our baby with "colic"

For the first few months of Karsen's life he was so fussy. If he was awake he was crying. We tried everything! We tried colic tablets, gas drops, gripe water. We even tried cutting out eggs and dairy out of my diet, that was so hard and not fun, I felt like I could barely eat anything at all. Eventually, we had an appointment to see the on call doctor since he was sick, again. (My poor baby got sick a total of 7 times by the time he was 7 months old.) The doctor suggested trying  a probiotic to see if it would help his fussiness. But it didn't seem to make a difference. Looking back, Kuper and I have no clue how we survived the first 4-5 months of his life. He would only sleep 2 hours at a time at the most. It made for two very cranky parents. The only thing that helped during the day was the ergo baby carrier. That carrier saved my sanity. But every night as I went to go to bed I dreaded what was to come. I felt like all I could do was pray for patience.... so that's what I did

Karsen's Birth Story

The Birth of my beautiful 2nd son Karsen

Karsen came into this world in the blink of an eye. It was July 23rd, 2011, three days past my due date. I woke up at 2:00AM to the sound of my first son, Karter, crying because he fell out of his bed. My husband, Kuper, and I tucked him back into bed and then proceeded to get back into bed ourselves.  Twenty minutes passes and I realized I was not going to fall back  asleep. I started having contractions at 2:30AM. I told Kuper to go back to sleep and get some rest, I wanted to make sure it was the real thing and I knew from experience with Karter (13 hours of labor) that we had some time.... Or so I thought! I called my two friends that I wanted in the room with me and told them I was in labor but wasn't sure when we were going to go to the hospital. Fifteen minutes later I realize this is the real deal, so I went to wake up Kuper. My contractions were only 2 minutes apart. We called my mom to have her come over and stay at our house and wait until Karter woke up. Two short hours later I told Kuper we needed to go to the hospital. I had every intention of having another natural birth but as it was before, when in labor I became a crazy woman and wanted every drug possible. Kuper knew I would get this way. So, when I told him we needed to go to the hospital he knew exactly why I was saying that... I wanted the epidural. So, off we went at 4:30AM. My mom crawled into our bed and waited for Karter to wake up and we sped off to the hospital. Now, normally it would take us forty minutes to get to the hospital from our house. As I screamed in the car on my knees on the floor board, Kuper sped like a crazy man to the hospital calling both my friends to tell them we were on our way. They both knew, from the sound of me screaming in the back round, there was no way they would make it there on time. We pulled into the hospital parking lot at 4:58AM. Yep, that's right, it only took us 28 minutes to get there.  While Kuper and I were in a panic, or maybe I was the only one, the nurses were so casual about getting me into my room. The nurses set me up in my room set a gown on the bed and started to walk away while I changed. Before she even had a chance to step out of the room I told her I wanted her to check me right then and there. I was still thinking in my own mind I had a good two hours left of this, especially since my water still hadn't broke, and I wanted the drugs right then! Karsen was born at 5:02AM. Just four minutes after pulling into the parking lot, he was here! The nurse ended up catching him. He came out in two fast, easy pushes. So relieved he was here and healthy. And yes, I had another natural birth, by the grace of God only. He was perfect! We were able to go home the next day. Making my house officially full of boys. I couldn't be more blessed!